1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to bidet devices for cleansing the anal and genital areas of the human body, and is particularly concerned with a bidet attachment and self-contained warm water supply unit for use in conjunction with a conventional flush toilet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hygienic cleansing devices for washing the anal and genital regions of the human body are well known and are an accepted part of ordinary personal hygiene in many parts of the world. These devices, commonly known as bidets, typically take the form of a freestanding bathroom fixture, similar in size and general configuration to an ordinary flush toilet, with hot and cold water taps for producing a flow of water at a comfortable temperature for cleansing purposes. In some cases, nozzles or spray heads have been provided in order to direct the flow of water to the particular area of the body that is to be cleansed.
Notwithstanding their positive contribution to personal hygiene, however, bidet devices have failed to find widespread domestic acceptance in the United States and in other countries as well. Part of the reason for this has to do with the physical size of most freestanding bidet units, which renders them undesirable in homes and apartments where floor space is at a premium. Then, too, the bidet unit represents an additional expense which builders and buyers of new homes or apartments may not be willing to undertake, particularly when the cost of making additional permanent plumbing connections is considered.
In an effort to offer the hygienic benefits of a bidet without the inconvenience and expense involved in the installation of a freestanding bidet unit, several bidet attachments intended for use in connection with ordinary flush toilets have been proposed. Some of these devices include projecting spray arms which may be moved between retracted and operative positions from an attachment point on the underside of the toilet seat, so that the normal function of the flush toilet is not impaired when the bidet device is not in use. By and large, however, these devices are characterized by a rather restricted range of positional adjustment for the spray arm, which may render them unsuitable to the needs of certain users. On the other hand, bidet attachments that offer a useful range of positional adjustment tend to be characterized by an undue level of mechanical complexity, which may affect their reliability and preclude their economical manufacture and widespread acceptance.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,519, for example, a bidet attachment is disclosed which includes a circular mounting disc that is secured directly by means of a pair of screws to the bottom of a conventional tiolet seat. The mounting disc in turn retains a ring-like body which includes a handle extension and an elongated spray nozzle arm that is hinged to the ring-like body by means of an integral hinge. The mounting disc and spray nozzle arm are interconnected by means of an eccentric link, so that horizontal movement of the handle causes the spray nozzle arm to move in what is described as a "compound arc" between an elevated storage position beneath the back of the toilet seat and a lower operative position beneath the center of the seat opening. A spring-operated detent is provided to limit the movement of the handle and ring-like body within prescribed limits. Although this bidet attachment is, according to one of its stated objects, relatively simple in construction, its manner of operation inherently allows only one possible path of movement for the spray nozzle arm between the storage and use positions, which restricts its range of adjustment considerably.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,594 discloses a bidet attachment in which the bidet arm is rotatably connected to a supporting plate that is affixed by screws to the underside of the toilet seat. The configuration of the elongated bidet arm and its axis of rotation are said to be such that the spray head moves in a relatively shallow arc from a retracted position beneath the rear part of the toilet seat through an operative path beneath the seat opening. Again, however, the possible range of adjustment of this device is limited by the fact that only one path of movement is possible for the bidet arm and the spray head thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,018 is illustrative of the rather elaborate mechanical arrangements which have sometimes been resorted to in order to provide bidet devices with a greater range of position adjustment. This patent describes a bidet device for a flush toilet in which two spray arms with intersecting jets are arranged to be brought into their operative positions by means of a common handle. The handle operates a rack-and-pinion device which causes the spray arms to swivel about a horizontal axis transverse to the toilet seat from their rest positions beneath the back of the toilet seat, and then to shift in a direction parallel to the seat to bring the spray nozzles into the desired operating position. The disclosed bidet device is installed by removing the existing toilet seat and replacing it with a specially-designed seat containing the necessary hardware.
Other examples of bidet attachments having pivoting or retracting spray arms may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,068,325, 1,346,252, 1,962,014, and 4,041,553, and in Japanese Pat. No. 52-25441, Italian Pat. No. 365,342, French Pat. No. 37,308 and Swiss Pat. No. 243,547.
Self-contained warm water supply units for bidet attachments may likewise be found in the prior art. See, for example, the disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,947,899 and 4,192,023. A problem that has not been satisfactorily solved, however, is the maintenance of a uniform water temperature at the spray head during repeated uses of the bidet attachment. A closely related problem is the prevention of the abrupt and uncomfortable changes in water temperature that tend to occur when the warm water storage vessel in the supply unit is temporarily depleted. Neither of these problems can be adequately solved simply by increasing the amount of warm water available, since the capacity of the storage vessel will ordinarily be limited by practical constraints on the overall size of the warm water supply unit.